Forceful Reckoning
by ButtonPusherExtraordinaire
Summary: Ranked a Commander because of his bloodline, and because he had destroyed the Death Star, Luke had thought that he was on his way to making his father proud, but Darth Vader changed that. How could the planet-killer be his father, the Hero With No Fear? And now, as he was in the Sith Lord's grip, Luke realized that his father was right: there could be no escape; he needed help. AU!
1. Prologue

**Okay, I was watching some Star Wars clips and this idea has been mocking me ever since, echoing in my brain with the intensity of a fire alarm, and after quelling the urge for a while, I can resist no longer - I'm writing it out. And honestly, I don't know what this is; I don't know whether it will be a one-shot or a longer story. So, without further ado, here is my take on one of the greatest scenes in cinematic history, the infamous scene on Bespin in** _ **The Empire Strikes Back.**_

 **Basically, it's how the scene, which is almost perfect, would be different if George had known what the prequels would disclose and truly, and I mean truly, delved into Darth Vader, showing just how powerful he really was. Because, in hindsight, the original trilogy has several plot holes that don't make too much sense. Here's my attempt to fix, in my opinion, the most blatant one in all of Star Wars, and add some things, too.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **Star Wars**_ **or any characters involved in the franchise. Sadly, most sadly, it belongs to Disney.**

XxXxXxXxXxX

He had lost, and it was as simple as that. His father's lightsaber, the only valuable item that he had possessed from his heroic father, the tool that, when he had wielded it, had given him such gladness, such joy to be united in spirit with his father, had fallen, probably never to be seen again - and along with his hand, too. The physical pain had long since passed, a mere flickering flame on the edge of his consciousness that waned with every breath that shuddered through his air-starved and exhausted lungs.

How had it come to this?

He had destroyed the Death Star, saved the entire galaxy from the technological terror that the Empire had constructed. He had risen through the ranks of the Rebel Alliance, hailed as a hero by all, the Skywalker name once again giving hope back to the galaxy, and most importantly, he had been making his father proud, emulating the Hero With No Fear, the greatest of the Jedi during the Clone Wars as best as he possibly could. While he hadn't reached the rank of his father's General, he had reached Commander at only twenty-two years of age. He had hoped that his father, where ever he and Ben were, looked down on him with pride.

But then Ben had appeared as an apparition, a specter back from death on Hoth, speaking about a Jedi Master named Yoda, and Luke had been filled with hope. A teacher! He could finally learn about the Force, about the energy that buzzed in his body, making him feel safe, but during some stressful times, make him feel powerful, as well.

Yoda hadn't been what he had expected, and after overcoming his shock, he had suffered under the tiny creature's tutelage, but he had mistakenly believed that he had grown stronger, that he could battle Darth Vader and live. What a fool he had been, what an outrageous fool! He had deluded himself into believing, truly believing that he could defeat Darth Vader, the slayer of the entire Jedi Order, the murderer of his father.

When he had been just a boy on Tatooine, Uncle Owen had forbidden him any knowledge on the workings of the galaxy, but he had found ways around his uncle's orders, listening to the stories, the stories that had always struck awe and fear in his heart. Darth Vader had been a named whispered with thinly-veiled terror through the mouths of every creature that he had ever encountered, even the leaders of the Rebel Alliance when he later met them - and Han and Leia, too! And for a long time, when he had been growing up, he hadn't believed the stories, not one bit. He had instead concluded that Darth Vader was just a monstrous persona that the parents on Tatooine used as a bedtime story for their children, forcing them to behave or Darth Vader would snatch them away from their families.

But now, staring up into the mask, seeing his own terrified reflection staring back at him, he cursed his stupidity, his dim-witted arrogance. Oh, how his father must be ashamed of him, the son who was too weak to avenge him, too weak to beat the monster who had cruelly murdered him, taking a father away from his offspring.

"There is no escape," Darth Vader's booming baritone echoed in the fear-tainted air. "Don't make me destroy you," Luke felt a sob begin to swell inside, Vader's words a terrible omen. He was going to die, and nobody would save him. Yoda had been right, and so had Ben. He felt his heart throb in fear as Vader took a small step forward, the red lightsaber powered off. "Luke, you have not yet realized your importance. You have only begun to discover your power. Join me and I will complete your training, revealing the true natures of the Force, gifting you untold power and control. Then, with our combined strength, we will end this pointless, destructive conflict and, finally, bring order to the galaxy, at last."

He shivered, wondering why Vader would be so interested in the son of the man whom he had murdered. His jaw clenched, and he hissed between his teeth, feeling a part of his soul ignite with strength. "I'll never join you!" He cried out, blinking back tears, knowing that if he was going to die, he refused to give Darth Vader, the terror-plaguing and planet-killing monster, the satisfaction.

"You don't know the power of the Dark Side," the looming form of Darth Vader hovered over him, the unholy hissing sound of his respirator ever-present. "Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father, I can sense it."

True anger flooded Luke's heart and he scowled up at the massive monster, maneuvering his body across the pipes, trying to hang on, trying to avoid a death by plummeting. "He told me enough! He told me that you killed him."

A triumphant emotion hung between them suddenly as Darth Vader seemed to grow even larger. "No, I am your father," the words floated in the musky, stale air of the reactor site. Luke felt himself stagger as a wicked bile rose in his stomach, forcing him to lean forward against the pipe to maintain his balance. How dare that monster? What kind of mind-game was the planet-killer inflicting so cruelly on him?

He snapped his head up, shaking it in disbelief, unable to quell the abrupt feeling of truth that he mysteriously felt – as if a piece of his broken soul had been found – from showing on his face. "No, no, no. That's not true!" The longer he stared up at Darth Vader's mask, the more the words echoed torturously in his ears, the hum in the Force not doing anything to help his now-shattered mind. "That's impossible!"

Vader leaned forward, almost looking like he wanted to reach out and touch him, "Search your feelings, Luke, and you'll know it to be true."

Luke did, unable to stop himself, and the Force was deafening in its declaration, supporting Darth Vader's proclamation like a proud mistress. His features twisted in horror, in such terrible anguish as tears spilled down his cheeks, "NO!" He cried out, his wail exploding out of his lips with abandon, "This can't be," he clutched at the pipe, shaking sorrowfully as the truth was finally revealed, and he understood.

Ben had lied to him, egregiously so.

"Luke, now you see, don't you? Can't you feel it, the connection that we share?" Vader's hand raised into a powerful fist, shaking with the force of his emotions. "You are my son, stolen from me the very day of your birth. Ever since when I learned it was you who had destroyed the Death Star, I swore that you would be mine, as you were always meant to be before Obi-Wan interfered." The air around Darth Vader - _his father!_ \- exploded with poisonous fury and Luke abruptly gasped, wondering how a single being could hold such power. It was thick and overwhelming, almost making him fall off of the pipe as his knees buckled from the intense blankets of strength bearing down on him, and he glimpsed the true depths of Darth Vader's strength; it was a black hole, a maelstrom of unholy darkness that sucked in all origins of light, a concentrated and godlike source of chaos and destruction, the withering promise of agony and suffering, of annihilation as death itself bowed to… his father. "Come with me, it is the only way. I will destroy the Emperor; I have foreseen it since your discovery. And with you by my side, as you rightfully should be, we will rule the galaxy as father and son. It is your destiny, Luke."

He raised his tear-stained face, carved with anguish, seeing his father put away his lightsaber and then hold his hand out towards him, begging him. And a part of Luke did want to accept, the part of him that had always so desperately longed for his father to be alive, a part of him that was a lot bigger than he ever wanted to admit, but he couldn't join Darth Vader, no matter their relation.

A deathly calm swiftly overcame him, and his decision was made. Unable to look at his father, he relaxed his grip, feeling his finger slide off the pipe like it was covered in fuel vapors. In the next instance, he steps off the pipe, feeling the rush up to meet him, pulling him down to a painful death, but a death that was better than the truth he had just learned, of the life he could potentially live had he joined his father.

The wind was painful as he plummeted, cutting through his skin with the precision of a Jedi Master. For long moments, everything was calm as he felt peaceful with his decision, not regretting it, praying that someone could rise up to defeat the Empire and… his father.

He froze, the wind no longer cutting into him with deadly rigor, and he simply floated in the air, unable to move any part of his body. He dimly realized what had happened as he slowly began to float upwards, and he panicked, thrashing, writhing, cringing as he tried to use the Force to escape from Vader's grip, but it was impossible.

It wasn't like earlier when they had been fighting; a mere charade, Luke had finally discerned. His father had toyed around him as all predatory beasts do with their prey, but now, as he couldn't even move in his father's grip, the truth was brilliant: his father was beyond powerful and if he had wanted to, even a little, he could have effortlessly crushed Luke, erasing him from the history of the galaxy, but he hadn't.

Vader's mask entered his vision, his shocked and heartbroken features staring back at him. "A pointless endeavor, Luke. There is no escape."

"Please, please," he croaked out. "I want to die - let me be."

"No, your destiny isn't fulfilled. I will soon present you to the Emperor, whom you will become acquainted with. You will then learn an ability that I cannot access, and after you've learned lightning, I'll kill my Master, paving the path to a galaxy ruled by father and son."

"My destiny isn't yours to command!"

His father's mask tilted dangerously, "It has always been, and it will always be mine, my son. You are of my blood, making you far stronger than you could possibly know. Your skills are abysmal. You don't truly think that you would survive if I actually meant you any real harm, do you, Luke? No, but soon, you will achieve strength and fulfill your destiny - I have foreseen it. I will raise you up, teaching you things that no one else knows. Obi-Wan, the child-stealing thief, has taught you very little, if anything at all. How have you accomplished skill so quickly? By yourself? No, I sense that someone else has taught you - and it was recently, too." A dangerous feeling began to cloud the air and Luke felt dread and horror war within his mind, a foreign – and yet familiar at the same time – presence searching through all of his memories, a terribly powerful presence, one whom could destroy his mind so easily, if he so wished. Fury exploded through his mind, but it wasn't his own, "Yoda," his father's baritone hissed out, retreating out of Luke's mind. "I have always suspected that he hadn't perished, but now I know for certain, and I know that I can finally destroy him, at last. He is on Dagobah."

"No!" He cried out, trying so desperately to escape from the grip surrounding his body like a suffocating blanket. "Leave him alone!"

"If you only knew all of the truths that have been hidden from you," his father pulled Luke closer, his body still levitating in the air with no hope of release until Vader deemed it. "Once your training is complete, perhaps I will allow you the gift of slaying Yoda, the fool who was unable to save the Jedi, and then your journey to the Dark Side will be complete…" his father trailed off abruptly, masked-head turning to the side, his ominous breathing ever-present. "I sense a presence, a presence that I haven't felt since Order 66, but one that I would never forget." His father's mask snapped back towards him so fast, in a blurred motion, that Luke gasped. "You bring him here? Does he covet death that much?"

"What are you talking about?" He demanded, the waves of exhaustion threatening to drown his mind. "Who are you talking about? Who covets death?"

"Yoda is here, I can feel it." His father abruptly marched away, Luke's floating form following like an obedient shadow. "He followed you here,"

"No, that's not possible!" He rasped out, "Yoda wouldn't! He condemned my choice to leave, warning me that- "

A green glow abruptly ignited ahead of his father and that's when Luke felt it, the brilliant presence in the Force, a source of light – that was still, in spite of the power, swallowed by the unholy darkness his father exuded. And before his now-motionless father stood Master Yoda, looking much healthier and stronger, a green lightsaber burning in his hand.

His father's breathing never changed but the intensity of his rage increased to such horrifying levels that Luke flailed, writhing in his grip, the rage threatening to warp his mind, his very soul.

"Let young Skywalker go," the tiny Jedi Master demanded, no longer appearing to be a frail, withered, and feeble-looking being, but a being who Luke could finally see as the wisest of the Jedi.

"You've come a long way to die, Yoda," his father boomed out. "You must truly covet death, so I will fulfill your request." His red lightsaber burst to life, the glow turning the atmosphere a reddish hue.

Yoda hummed, "If this is the day when I return to the Force, hesitate I will not." And before Luke's stunned eyes, the tiny creature darted forward with fantastic speed, green lightsaber lunging towards Darth Vader's chest.

His father's lightsaber smashed against Yoda's with terrible strength, pushing the Jedi back, heaving blow upon blow ceaselessly, sparks flying. "You had cut yourself off from the Force," Darth Vader sliced through a hurled pipe easily. "Clever, most clever. No wonder the Emperor or I never sensed you, receiving nothing. And Obi-Wan had done the same."

"Darkness in your future, I had always glimpsed," the Jedi Master declared, flipping around his father with Force-aided leaps. "But foresee the monster who you would become I did not." Yoda twirled around, blocking a lightsaber strike, and at the same time, shoved his small hand at Luke's floating form.

The grip surrounding his body flickered, but he wasn't released. "My son will not be taken from me once again," his father growled out, the grasp tightening on him painfully.

"Your son, he is not," Yoda declared, wavering under Darth Vader's mighty blows. "Anakin Skywalker's, he is; not yours, Darth Vader."

"Anakin Skywalker was weak. I destroyed him," his father's fury had reached levels that Luke had never known existed. Objects around the reactor began to shake and then they levitated, migrating towards Luke himself, as he relentlessly pursued the acrobatic Yoda. Even the shadows themselves seemed to respond to his father's power, aggressively darting out to try and snare Yoda. "I have unlocked powers that the Jedi have never grasped, and with you dead, I will have finally finish what I had started: the Jedi's extinction."

Yoda suddenly pushed both his hands out harshly and Darth Vader slid back, lightsaber held in front of him protectively. "Failed you we did, I see now. Grown stagnant the Jedi did, preventing the rise of Darth Sidious and yourself, we were unable to do. No victory will you achieve, however. A new era for the Force, young Skywalker will bring." He Force pushed his father away several more times, catching him off-guard, and leaped towards Luke after Darth Vader fell for a moment, "Young Skywalker, flee you must!" Holding out both of his hands, lightsaber still ignited, Yoda's eyes closed and Luke, slowly, felt the grip dissipate.

"No!" His father roared and Luke watched shell-shocked as Darth Vader jumped forward and hurled his lightsaber at Yoda's unprotected back. The Jedi Master quickly, with his eyes still closed, thrust his lightsaber down behind his back, deflecting the red, incoming lightsaber right back at his father, bouncing off of the green lightsaber perfectly.

Luke's eyes widened as he finally fell to the platform, falling to his knees, he was so weak, and he wondered if he was about to watch his father die before his eyes when he had just, no matter his vile deeds, discovered him. But Darth Vader effortlessly plucked his approaching lightsaber out of the air.

"GO!" Yoda cried out forcefully, a calm hurdling into Luke's mind. Even though he knew that it was a Force suggestion, as Ben had done all of those years ago, he found himself unable to resist. The Jedi Master bolted towards his approaching father's looming, outlined-in-red shadow, "Have him, you never will!" Green clashed against red as the power in the air became tangible, prickling his skin painfully.

He clutched his stub of a hand and looked around, eyes frantically darting everywhere. As his father had repeatedly said, there was no escape. The only exit was on the platform where Yoda and his father were battling ferociously. Remembering his earlier choice, he stumbled back towards the ledge, stomaching the realization that the only possible chance for his survival was to jump.

Looking back one last time, he glimpsed his father and Yoda clashing violently, the entire platform shaking. It was an awe-inspiring sight; never before had he imagined such a battle, never imagined the speed between his father and Yoda. The two Force-wielders fought each harshly, brutally, even the Jedi Master twirling around fiercely, the two lightsabers mere blurs of beautiful light as impossibly heavy pipes and walls were being thrown at each other all the while they were fighting.

Shaking his head, Luke inhaled deeply and the Force filled him, bringing clarity and peace, giving him the strength to do it once more. For a few more moments, he gathered his courage and his eyes snapped open.

Just as his foot left the edge, he froze once again, hysteria threatening to overwhelm him. Not again! He had to flee but he was unable to move any of his limbs, just his head. It was just like last time, and when he finally turned his head to glimpse the scene, his breath stuttered in shock and horror.

Yoda was dangling by the neck in his father's fist, gloved-fingers curling across green flesh ominously as the Jedi Master's hands clutched desperately at Darth Vader's own hand in a pitiful attempt to free himself. His father held Yoda in one hand while the other was held in Luke's direction, clenched slightly. "No," he growled out.

Choked gasps echoed from the Jedi Master and Luke was helpless, unable to anything but watch as his second teacher was murdered right in front of him - just like Ben had been! Blood drizzled out of Yoda's mouth and suddenly, one of his hands left Vader's grip, reaching out to the side, shaking as death was imminent.

A lightsaber exploded out of some of the smashed pipes, blurring towards Yoda's outstretched hand, and in a second, the green blaze ignited, alighting his father's shadow even more monstrously. His father's head snapped back towards Yoda, but he was too late. Without hesitation, the Jedi Master swung the lightsaber, severing the left hand that was physically choking him.

Luke gasped as his father roared, the entire reactor shaking precariously, and he was freed! He saw one last glance of his father throwing Yoda threw one of the walls, stomping after him, distracted, and Luke had never been more relieved.

He leaped off of the platform.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Hatred flared in his mind like a supernova as a terrible, malignant snarl was hidden beneath his mask. His mind had finally tapped into the true power of the Dark Side, and the moment when he had done so after Yoda had injured him, the black and malevolent energy had begun to pulse through his body, engulfing him wholly.

When the lightsaber had sliced off his hand, it had brought back terrible memories that Anakin Skywalker experienced, ones when Obi-Wan sliced off his limbs and when Dooku maimed him, slicing off his arm. And now, when Yoda had done the same, the culmination of the onslaught of memories overwhelmed him, the hatred and rage flooding through his body.

He stomped towards Yoda after he threw him through the wall, lightsaber ignited in his one remaining hand. Debris was crunched beneath his steps, "You will regret your actions," he growled out. "You've lived your last day, Yoda,"

"A decision which regret it, I will not," the Jedi declared, climbing unsteadily to his feet, green lightsaber held tightly.

Vader fell deeper into the power of the Dark Side even further, the cold and churning depths eagerly drowning him, the arrogance of Yoda adding fuel for his fiery rage. Nothing mattered, not even his son. He would gather Luke after slaughtering the Jedi; the boy had nowhere to go, even if he jumped. He would be trapped, and Vader would inveigle him no matter what.

No, all that mattered right now was vengeance, revenge for all of the lies and humiliations that the Jedi Council had dealt him, and he would have it! He lashed out ferociously, his stubbed-hand Force pushing Yoda into another wall, the sound of bones breaking doing nothing to deter him.

"Never trained you, we should have," the Jedi Grandmaster croaked out, blood dripping out of his mouth, pain carved deep into ancient flesh. "Turned you away, I should have." Yoda slowly stood to his feet, the Force wrapped around him, trying to help him heal. "Sorry I am to be so cruel, but the truth is what I speak. A chaos-bringer you are and an unfit Jedi you were," the green lightsaber blurred towards him and Vader sidestepped, swinging his own lightsaber, nicking a small gash into Yoda's leg.

"It was the Council that was corrupt," he growled out, the memories of Anakin Skywalker poisoning him. "The Jedi, the Knights of the Republic - lies! You were as corrupt as the Republic itself. You were the true Masters of Deceit, were you not? Able to rival the Emperor himself with your lies, especially you, Yoda."

Yoda limped slowly, fingers curling around his lightsaber, "No matter how many Jedi you kill, the Force will find a way, convincing more to rise against you - and more Jedi, how ever they come to be, will coalesce, too!"

"They will fall, as well," Vader jumped forward, smashing his lightsaber into Yoda's again and again, forcing the Jedi Master to his knees. Then, with a quick sweep of his lightsaber, he knocked the lightsaber out of the hands of Yoda, quickly calling the Force, crushing the weapon before the Jedi could attempt a similar trick as he had done earlier.

Yoda's eyes were dimming, resignation shining, "Young Skywalker, yours he will never be,"

"He will fulfill his destiny by my side," he loomed over Yoda's collapsed form, his lightsaber powering off, the shadows in the room thrashing in joy. "At last, the Jedi are no more," he raised his fist. "Yoda, your death will not be a gentle one," he grabbed the Jedi with the Force and hurled him around the room, the echoing sounds of groans and bone snapping a relief to his soul, smashing Yoda against everything.

And then, once the former Grandmaster of the Jedi Order laid motionless on the ground, but clearly still alive, Vader tightened the Force around his throat, squeezing, closing it shut. Yoda's eyes snapped open and he gasped, blood streaming out of multiple wounds, the milky coloring in his eyes, too, turning red as the vessels burst.

"Win, you… wi- will not," the Jedi managed to choke out. "Fe- fear you, I ne- …never have,"

Vader snarled beneath his mask, his voice modulator providing no emotion. "Then you will die braver than most, Yoda," he fully closed his fist and with an echoing sound, Yoda's neck snapped to the side grotesquely.

And then, immediately, before he could savor the feeling of killing the most powerful Jedi who had ever existed, Yoda's body vanished before his eyes just as Obi-Wan's had on the Death Star when he had killed him. All that remained were the Jedi's robes and kicking them with his boot, nothing remained.

He whirled around and stomped back towards his son, lightsaber off. He reached for his son's presence in the Force and ignoring the presence of one of his Master's Hands, hiding in the shadows, alarm spread through his mind when he realized that it was much further away than it should be. And when he stepped through the hole in the wall that he had created when he threw Yoda through it, his fears were confirmed. Luke had jumped off of the platform, succeeding this time when last time Vader had caught him.

Vehemently cursing Yoda and the Jedi's obstinate need to interfere in matters that weren't his concern, a trait that every Jedi that he had ever met shared, Vader marched back towards his ship, not wanting to admit that he was hurrying. Everything that he had ever wanted was almost within his grasp and he didn't intend on letting his son escape; the boy was too naive and young to truly understand, truly the son of Anakin Skywalker.

Already, he could feel Luke's despair and anguish through the Force, but he paid it no mind, focusing on securing his son in his Star Destroyer. He wasn't too concerned because even though the mulish Princess and the Wookie had managed to escape because Lando Calrissian was a fool, a very predictable one, Vader had already tasked his men with disabling the hyperdrive of the Millennium Falcon, snuffing out on potential plans to leave Cloud City. His son had nowhere to go and it was all because of Vader's design.

He passed the bodies of fallen Storm Troopers, the sight cementing his decision to kill the Princess, the Wookie, and Calrissian. These loyal and honorable Storm Troopers were helping him bring order to the chaotic galaxy that the Rebel Alliance had stirred. Memories from Anakin Skywalker brimmed, images of the great Clone Troopers, the 501st who would later evolve into the Storm Troopers, his own personal squad, defending him and were even more loyal to him than the damned, hypocritical Jedi Council.

"Bring my shuttle," he commanded to the two aides on the platform. "And I want a direct communication with Admiral Piett."

They stuttered to attention, "At once, my lord," one raced to the end of the platform while the other approached him with the hologram

" _Lord Vader, I need to inform you that Lando Calrissian betrayed his word, jetting off in the Millennium Falcon."_ Admiral Piett's demeanor was poised but the fear carved into his face was plainly visible.

Vader waved his hand, "Dispense with the notification, Admiral," he walked past the aid and into his just-arrived shuttle. "I'm more than aware. You did debilitate the hyperdrive, yes?"

" _Of course, my lord, it was my top priority,"_

"Then I'm not concerned; our only objective from this moment is capturing Luke Skywalker alive, and when that is complete, I want the Millennium Falcon and those fools brought before me."

" _I will notify everyone at once,"_ the Admiral quickly vanished from the hologram as it shut off.

Vader watched through the window of his shuttle as the ship docked in the Star Destroyer, and he swiftly exited the ship, sweeping across the room without a glance at anyone, and just as quickly entering the bridge.

Admiral Piett came to his side, "I have just notified every one of your orders, my lord. All weapons are now set for stun instead."

He ignored him, stepping closer onto the main platform, staring out the large window as the planet of Bespin was visible, Vader briefly closed his eyes, searching for his son's presence, and when he found it, he was unsurprised. Luke had managed to regroup with his foolish and pathetic friends, now trying to escape from Cloud City on the Millennium Falcon, trying to get away from Vader himself.

"I have just received a word, Lord Vader, that the Millennium Falcon will be within the range of our tractor beam in moments." Piett came to him again, the bringer of good news, "Though, I must report that there are numerous descriptions from the pilots that an unidentified individual jumped onto the Falcon as they were in pursuit- "

"It is Skywalker, Admiral," he interrupted. "Prepare the boarding party, and remember, Admiral, that if Skywalker is injured in any way from anyone onboard this Star Destroyer, I will be most displeased and entirely unforgiving."

Piett paled but remarkably kept his composure, a first that Vader had ever experienced in his presence. "Of course, my lord, Skywalker will be injury-free."

"For your sake, Admiral, I hope so,"

"Of course, Lord Vader,"

"Good, now see to it," he waved him away, an eagerness engulfing his mind, a level of excitement that he hadn't experienced since… Padme had revealed her pregnancy. And now, he would finally have his son, as he should have had him from the moment of his birth. Now, he watched as the TIE fighters chased the now-visible Millennium Falcon through space, and as his Star Destroyer came ever closer, only moments away from capturing the ship in the tractor beam, anticipation swelled in him.

Easily with his eyes still watching the Millennium Falcon, he reached out towards his son's presence, and linked their minds, _"Luke,"_ he whispered through the Force, the words echoing in his son's mind.

His son's distraught horror managed to pierce his defenses and he was unable to prohibit the sorrow from flushing through him. _"Father,"_ his son's broken voice fluttered.

" _Son, come with me,"_

When Luke refused to answer, Vader delved into the boy's mind, gathering everything, and his fury was barely leashed, but he was unable to keep his robotic fingers from twitching as his son's yearning for Obi-Wan was almost tangible and Vader swore silently that when he finally had his son in his possession, as he rightly should be, that he would destroy any memory of Obi-Wan from Luke's mind.

"Alert all commands. Ready for the tractor beam," the Admiral announced behind him. "These enemies of the Empire must be brought to heel."

Vader, upon feeling a ripple in the Force, instead of viewing all of the men preparing to board, ripped into the minds of everyone in the Millennium Falcon, including his son's, and after a moment, he knew everything from gathering the apex of all of their thoughts as they were in the cockpit of the ship: somehow, they were about to activate the hyperdrive.

Swiftly, he grasped the Force and brutally began to choke Calrissian, the mulish Princess, and the Wookie whilst he froze his son's movements, preventing them from escaping. He did admire their efforts, but it was useless as a fiery triumph spread through his mind.

Luke would finally be his!

Abruptly, the Millennium Falcon blasted into hyperspace, the hold that Vader held over them all painfully diminishing more and more, and before he was fully unable to grasp them, he twitched his fingers, gruesomely snapping Calrissian's neck to the side, killing him. And then, immediately after, the Force lashed back against him as the hold was destroyed as the Millennium Falcon traveled through light speed, making him take a step back from the sheer impact.

He stared uncomprehendingly for a moment as the reality that his son was lost to him slowly dawned on him. For a brief second, time paused, and he felt sickeningly weak, a reminder of Anakin Skywalker. His blackened heart beat faster and his anger began to simmer as his imbalance was apparent, the Force itself beginning to hiss and crackle, awaiting bloodshed and a gruesome slaughter.

Slowly, so ever slowly, his fists clenched tightly, shaking even, the bionic parts grinding against one another. An unseen wind lashed through the bridge of the Star Destroyer, smashing into unsuspecting but terrified agents of the Empire. Small cracks appeared in the glass on the large window, the sight of the TIE fighters no longer chasing the Millennium Falcon visible, spider-webbing chaotically.

' _A chaos-bringer you are,'_ Yoda's words suddenly floated in the air.

The Dark Side howled in his mind, exploding as the powerful, darkness-touched energy pulsed through him. It welcomed him eagerly and lovingly into its dark arms, giving him unholy power and strength. Dimly, he recognized that he was choking everyone on board the Star Destroyer, the glass becoming precariously close to fully shattering; he didn't care, his lust for blood a glaring wound in his mind.

Somebody had betrayed him, and it was the only explanation. How else could the Millennium Falcon's tenants have suddenly been able to 'fix' their hyperdrive?

His rage and hatred swallowed him whole, unleashing his power in a maelstrom of unholy darkness. The unifying and echoing sound of every person's neck on the Star Destroyer breaking pierced through his mind, and it did nothing to appease him.

The power began to throb through him, a painful prickling in his rage-flooded mind. He needed more!

The glass fully shattered and all of the dead bodies were sucked into the vacuum of space but with his power untethered from the chains of restraint and will, Vader still stood on the bridge, the unimaginable pressure of space unaffecting him as a Force shield had been erected instinctively.

Nothing could help him, nothing. No solace would ever be reached until he was reunited with his son, and when he found him, he would never let him go.

XxXxXxXxXxX

 **Well, that's the end of it. I hope you enjoyed it. And like I said earlier, I have no idea what this will be: a story or just this one-shot. Oh, and by the way, the blatant plot hole was Vader letting Luke drop and doing nothing, just staring.**

 ****Darth Vader is shown to be his actual strength here instead of how the** _ **Empire Strikes Back**_ **depicted him. I think that most people would agree that Vader was incredibly strong and that he was toying with Luke the entire time on Bespin, but the second when** _ **Return of the Jedi**_ **is mentioned, everyone suddenly hops onto the Luke kicks-his-father's-ass train. No, that's not true. And I hope that this showed how much more powerful Vader is than anyone except for, maybe, the Emperor. Vader has been training in the Force and lightsaber since he was nine years old. Luke started a decade later and has had no teachers except for a few weeks with both Obi-Wan and Yoda, nowhere near enough time learn hardly anything. In** _ **Return of the Jedi,**_ **maybe it was just me, but I was given the thought that Luke hadn't seen Yoda, when he went to visit him, since his duel with Vader. If that was, indeed, the case, Luke wouldn't have learned much. The Phantom Obi-Wan wouldn't be able to teach him so much that he could suddenly kick Vader's ass at the end of the film. (Though, that was only because Vader didn't want to fight his son.** _ **"Your thoughts betray you, father. I can feel the good in you, the conflict. You couldn't bring yourself to kill me before and I don't believe that you'll destroy me now."**_ **See, even Luke recognized it!)**

 **Also, there is no way that Darth Vader, easily one of the most powerful Sith Lords to ever exist, would let Luke Skywalker, his newly-found son, who he is obsessed with, fall off of the pipe or whatever it was called. He would instead simply catch him with the Force like what happened here. I've heard people declare that Vader wasn't strong enough to do that, but that's ridiculous from what we've seen of Vader in Canon and Legends are wherever. Also, people chalking it up to pure shock, that's also ridiculous. Vader is someone who doesn't become shocked - the only time that would actually make sense, logically, for him was when he had discovered that his son was alive and that he even had a living son.**

 **Yoda shows up! I hope I caught some of you off-guard with that, and I thought that it made a lot of sense. Yoda must have had a ship that was on Dagobah because how else would he have arrived on the planet after Order 66? So, eventually, realizing that Darth Vader would never do something so stupid as to let his son potentially fall to his death, - *smacks forehead* - he arrives at Cloud City in time to save Luke from becoming Han 2.0, frozen in carbonite.**

 **Okay, I despised** _ **The Last Jedi**_ **with such a fierce loathing that I wanted to torch the theater after I had watched it. If you like it, that's fine, but I hate it and refuse to acknowledge the film as anything to do with Star Wars - it was, to me, like a weird alternate universe where nothing made sense, and nobody used logic when making it. But I did find the fact that Luke (Who I will be calling 'John' Skywalker from now on when mentioning that character who was presented in the egregious movie.) shutting himself off from the Force was an interesting narrative. Obi-Wan must have done the same when he lived on Tatooine for almost two decades and maybe Yoda had as well, but I think that since Dagobah was a living Light Side locus for the Force, the planet simply kept him hidden, but in this story, that wasn't the case. Because he 'reconnects' with the Force, Yoda is a lot healthier and stronger, acting and looking like he did in** _ **Revenge of the Sith.**_ **Yes, I do think that Darth Vader, a being who has been familiar with the Dark Side for years and who has been a Sith Lord for years, would beat Yoda, especially this version of Yoda.**

 **That's all, so I hope that you enjoyed it. If you want to leave a review, I'd appreciate it.**

 _ **Stay Safe  
**_ **ButtonPusher**


	2. Chapter 1

**Thanks for reviewing, to those who did, I really appreciate it. Yes, I have decided to expand this because, frankly, ideas have been tormenting me ever since.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **Star Wars**_ **or any characters involved in the franchise. Sadly, most sadly, it belongs to Disney.**

XxXxXxXxXxX

The Force was shifting, swirling, a surplus of changes that didn't bode well. Darth Sidious didn't like it, especially since he hadn't foreseen it. Something was happening, and the only explanation could be his Apprentice, Darth Vader.

Ever since when he had discovered that Amidala had actually been able to give birth to Skywalker's son before her death, the Force had been in a flux, particularly when he had tried to glimpse the future, and what he had been able to view was worse than he had thought, but was unsurprising, too, for he had seen it before: his death.

Truly, his Apprentice had surpassed all of the expectations that Sidious had ever placed on him. Because of Darth Vader, the Jedi were no more, even that fool Yoda - and what a shock that had been to sense the fool who was unable to save the Jedi Order after over two decades had passed for Sidious being unable to feel that cretin - had just been snuffed out, no doubt by his Apprentice's hand for no one else possessed the power necessary to do such a thing. Luke Skywalker wouldn't become a Jedi, it was impossible now. No more existed from their Order, and it was all because of Lord Vader.

He had once proudly declared to Master Yoda that Darth Vader would become more powerful than either of them, but after Mustafar, Sidious had truly believed that his Apprentice would squander away, never able to reawaken the incredible power within him. He had even looked elsewhere.

So, when he had taken his place as Emperor, Sidious had desperately searched the galaxy for Force-sensitive children, for surviving Jedi to become his new apprentice, had adopted countless Hands and Inquisitors to serve him, but none of them could compare to the Sith Lord whom Darth Vader had become.

His Apprentice had triumphed over his injuries on Mustafar, and by doing so, had become someone who Sidious actually feared. Vader was a true Sith, a powerful one, on verge of becoming the most powerful Sith Lord in the existence of the Sith Order. At first, when he had found Lord Vader on the shores of Mustafar, charred and withered, the Dark Side the only thing keeping him alive, Sidious had been enraged. His perfect Apprentice, the corrupted so-called Chosen One had been beaten, humiliated by a mere Jedi Master, one who couldn't even boast of having the raw power and strength of Anakin Skywalker, the wisdom and experience of Yoda, or the determination and relentless skill of Mace Windu.

He had thought that all of his glorious plans had been ruined after decades of planning! When he had, under the help and guidance of his Master, arranged Anakin Skywalker's conception, using the power of the Dark Side of the Force to will the midichlorians to begin the cell divisions that created Anakin, he had foreseen an incredibly powerful Sith Lord, one whose shadow cast such darkness that Sidious had felt envious when he 'awakened' from his vision. And it had come true years later for what a rise to his true destiny Vader had taken, aiding in the slaughter of the Jedi Order in Order 66, keeping all of the then-Clone Troopers safe from lightsabers and Force attacks, destroying any who stood in his way.

But Sidious had never wanted a cyborg as his Apprentice, as his in-a-way son, the heir to the Sith Order's greatest achievement.

Therefore, Darth Vader's suit had been egregiously and painfully designed by Sidious to punish his Apprentice for his failure on Mustafar, his inability to triumph over Obi-Wan Kenobi, his former Jedi Master. Frankly, Sidious had never expected his Apprentice to rise from the shame and injuries, and he had begun looking for a new, un-maimed Apprentice even as the droids operated on Lord Vader, contemplating who could possibly be worthy to stand by his side instead of Vader, and who would eventually ascend the mantle of power, becoming the Master as the Rule of Two dictated. But none of his plans came to fruition because, in spite of everything that had happened, his Apprentice had risen from the restraints that Kenobi had dealt him, and in doing so, had become the Sith Lord whom Sidious had always envisioned.

For the first few years after Order 66, Darth Vader had struggled, but one day, Sidious had sensed a change in his Apprentice. He and his Master, Darth Plagueis had both always believed that disfigurement had no effect on one's Force power, Darth Maul being a living example of that, but for a while, Sidious had thought that his Apprentice wouldn't prove to be as resilient as that weak fool, Maul.

Then, after a mission when his Apprentice had hunted down a large group of rogue, surviving Jedi, and after building his personal castle and impenetrable fortress on Mustafar, Sidious had felt the change in Darth Vader, had felt the power that shook the very air itself, the darkness stifling, even to one as powerful as Sidious himself. And since that day all of those years ago, he had known what his Apprentice's potential and power was. Even though that he had forced himself to believe it to be wrong, trying to convince himself that Vader would forever be loyal to him, he could never dispel the wariness in his mind.

Sidious had manipulated the entire galaxy into the Clone Wars, pitting the Republic against the Separatists by always evolving his plan that he and his Master had put together, using his visions from the Force as a tool to create an infallible plan that would rid the galaxy of the Jedi and see the rise of the Sith to power that the ancient Sith Lords could never dream of, not even Lord Vitiate!

But he couldn't use the same method anymore, for no matter his visions, his life ended the same way each time: he was killed by Darth Vader. And since Luke Skywalker's emergence into Lord Vader's life, the visions had increased exponentially, tormenting Sidious as he viewed his inevitable death via his Apprentice. It made sense, though. He had always inherently known that Vader could destroy him, but his Apprentice had never had the motivation to fulfill his goal, he truly hadn't because Sidious had nurtured the relationship between them for over three decades, and he knew that Vader, indeed, did view him as his father - and Sidious suspected that his Apprentice knew the truth of his conception. But now, as the visions foretold, his Apprentice was fading from his grip, and he needed a new Apprentice.

That was why, when he had discovered Luke Skywalker's existence, he had glimpsed an opportunity, one that he would never let pass. Lord Vader had become older and much more powerful, past the point of merely being the Fist of the Empire, the enforcer who destroyed the Jedi Order. Sidious had known for some time that his Apprentice had concocted a plan to betray him, to take over the Empire as its Emperor Vader, and with every Storm Trooper loyal to his apprentice more so than himself, Sidious knew exactly how such an event would end for him: with his inevitable, absolute death. And even though his Apprentice had created the plan, he had been unlikely to rebel against him because of their bond that Sidious had taken such lengths to secure, but the appearance of Luke Skywalker changed things drastically.

Darth Vader would now have the motivation to actually kill him, and Sidious knew that it was true when his Force visions bombarded him daily, reminding him that his Apprentice would kill him. Sidious needed a plan, and eventually, he created a grandiose one; one that, in his eyes, would almost be as difficult as fooling the entire Republic and Jedi Order into believing that he was simply a mere Chancellor from Naboo instead of the Dark Lord of the Sith.

With Luke Skywalker's newly-realized existence, what if Sidious could secure a new Apprentice, one who could potentially, although highly unlikely in his eyes, reach Lord Vader's incredible mastery of the Force? One who wouldn't have the decades-long resentment and bitterness that Vader held for him, especially after realizing the truth about many things, how Sidious had lied to him countless times, unwilling for his Apprentice to potentially have an advantage over him? Although Vader hadn't tried anything yet, the time would inevitably come and more likely than not, Sidious would be destroyed. So, it was imperative that he gain young Skywalker as his new Apprentice, especially since the boy was a hero in the pathetic band of Rebels, one of its highest-ranking officers, their own secret weapon, the Jedi who filled them with hope. Thus, Skywalker could easily bring it down, having intimate knowledge about its hidden sponsors, following in his father's footsteps, snuffing them out.

He had shared the information with Lord Vader, the existence of the son of Skywalker, to glimpse Vader's true feelings about the boy. And when he had sensed no shock in his Apprentice, merely a dark and poisonous rage, and a strong yearning for his son, Sidious had realized that, somehow, Lord Vader had already known of his son's existence - and had kept it secret from Sidious!

It was only then when he had understood that he had lost his Apprentice's loyalty, frighteningly similar to how his own Master, Darth Plagueis had, too, failed to sense Sidious' own lost loyalty, but thankfully, Sidious had realized it before it was too late. Knowing that his death would be unavoidable if Lord Vader secured his son and convinced the boy to join him, thus giving him the motivation to kill him, especially since Sidious himself was still searching for the key to eternal life, he had interfered in his Apprentice's quest to secure Skywalker.

He had ordered one of his Hands, the most talented and powerful of them all to follow and watch Lord Vader, and the girl knew better than to challenge his Apprentice, making certain to sabotage any outcome that foresaw Skywalker in Lord Vader's grasp.

And then, when he had felt the unholy surge of delicious darkness explode through the galaxy, blanketing it snuggly, Sidious had known that his Hand had succeeded. Luke Skywalker had been kept from his father and Lord Vader wouldn't attempt to overthrow Sidious until he found his son, his relentless drive focused only on his son, freeing Sidious from an inevitable death for a while longer until he figured out how to handle the situation and betrayal that his Apprentice would undoubtedly achieve.

Darth Sidious would live for a little longer and have more time to unearth the key to eternal life, deciphering through the ciphers and Holocrons of the ancient Sith Lords, and hopefully, finally find Lord Vitiate's, the only Sith who lived for over a thousand years.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Ahsoka had known, instinctively, that she would never be able to reside in peace for long, but she had hoped that it would still be a few more years until she could become resolved to kill her former Master, but the Force had a different design than she did, and she followed the will of the Force, and no other.

She had felt it, Master Yoda's presence, which she hadn't felt since the day the Empire formed, flare through the Force with bright power, but only minutes later, it had been snuffed out by a black hole of unholy darkness, a maelstrom that belonged only to Darth Vader. But what had been amazing, though, was the other presence that she had sensed. It was a powerful presence, one that, while weaker than Yoda's, could possibly, in time, match the former Grandmaster's.

It had given Ahsoka fierce hope, the realization that there was someone else out there who could battle Darth Vader instead of her. Because no matter her sworn words, she knew that she could never defeat her Master, nonetheless have the ability and resolve to kill him. It hadn't worked at the ancient Sith Temple, and because of her arrogance, when she had thought that she could convince him to return with her, her friends had all been murdered and the Holocron had been secured in Vader's grasp - and thus, the Emperor's.

She hadn't died, though, because Vader had simply smacked her aside with the Force and entered the Temple to acquire the Holocron after killing all of her friends.

 _Ahsoka couldn't take her eyes off of him, and in spite of every feeling in her mind declaring the truth, the Force itself joining in, her heart couldn't accept it, she herself couldn't! How could this… this monster be her Master, her best friend? Looming over all of them, bathed in the Dark Side of the Force, Darth Vader's unholy hiss from his respirator echoed through the air terribly, causing a chill to fog everyone's lungs._

" _So, my work will be much easier, I see," the booming baritone almost made her flinch, but she was the only one who contained it as Kanan, Ezra, and Maul, their convenient ally at this moment, all tensed, lightsabers ready to ignite, facing Vader, blocking him from entering the now-open Temple. "You have unlocked the Temple, so your gift will be a swift death. Tell me: how did you accomplish deciphering its secrets?"_

 _Ezra's eyes became alight with fury, sweeping away the fear. "You're smart, so you figure it out!" Ahsoka's eyes closed as he continued to speak, already knowing that if she tried to keep him from talking, it would demoralize everyone even further. "The only way you will get inside the Temple is over our dead bodies!"_

" _Ezra!" Kanan hissed out through grit teeth, "Be quiet, we want to remain living, remember?"_

 _The boy merely stared at Darth Vader with anger-filled eyes, "It is he who should want to remain living after we're through with him. It's one against four! We have three Masters and me on our side, and he's just by himself!" Ahsoka desperately wanted to chide him, reveal the exploits of her Master's power and skill during the Clone Wars, but it was too… too late to reveal such things; the time had passed and her chance to reveal Vader's identity would never come again. And she still felt loyalty to him, felt the urge to protect him, his identity, an outrageous feeling, but one that she couldn't help._

" _Then you realize that this will be over quickly," Darth Vader's red lightsaber suddenly burst to life, outlining his monstrous form in red. "You can still walk away, Apprentice. I have no qualms with you, so if you wish to remain alive, leave and abandon these traitors of the Empire to my blade." Ahsoka's eyes widened and dread swept across her face, and she now wished that she had disclosed, at least to Kanan and Ezra, that she was once Vader's Padawan when he had existed as Anakin Skywalker, the greatest of the Jedi._

 _Thankfully, though, the only one who seemed to look at her was Vader, but she couldn't be certain because of the mask, while Maul snarled, eyes glowing with a hate-filled yellow. "I would never be your Apprentice, Vader!"_

" _You are as much a fool as I've always known you to be, Maul," the booming words portrayed no emotion, but somehow, Ahsoka could feel the contempt coloring them. "You've only remained alive until now because you aren't a possible threat, not even a blemish in the Emperor's eyes or my own. You are simply a mistake, an error of the past, and if you had stayed away, you would be forgotten, an unknown that is too pathetic to even waste thought on. But it matters not now. Your death will elicit pleasure in me."_

 _Ahsoka finally glimpsed the terror on Maul's face, and almost felt pity for her convenient for-now-ally. But shockingly, Maul snarled, "I'm not going to die until I face Kenobi one last time, Vader."_

 _A gasp escaped her lips at the abrupt stifling darkness that blanketed over all of them, "You know where he is?" Vader took a step forward, and Ahsoka immediately ignited her lightsaber, everyone else following her example. "Tell me where Kenobi is."_

" _He is mine, Vader!" Maul suddenly seemed to de-age before Ahsoka's eyes, the Dark Side flowing through him until he resembled the creature who had challenged and killed Council-level Jedi during the Clone Wars. "Kenobi will feel my wrath one last time when I plunge my lightsaber through his heart!"_

 _Darth Vader abruptly attacked with a flurry of devastating attacks, red lightsaber a blur of brilliant light. "Your hatred for Obi-Wan is weak," he easily blocked Kanan's strike, smashing him into the ground and Force-pushed Ezra away at the same time. He hammered at Maul's double-bladed lightsaber, easily slicing it in half, leaving two halves for Maul to use. "You are a mockery of a Sith, and I will take pleasure in erasing you from the Force's tapestry of life." Maul was slammed back by Vader's heavy swing and Ahsoka, finally overcoming her fear and shock, then entered the fray, pulling Ezra back and helping Kanan to his feet, trying to calm her raging mind, but the only thing that she could think of was that she was going to be fighting against her Master._

 _A choked gasp echoed in her ears and Ahsoka watched in fear as Maul floated in the air, lightsaber crushed, and hands trying to reach towards an invisible rope around his frail-looking throat but could grip nothing. Then, a deafening crack erupted as Maul's neck twisted to the side grotesquely, life fleeing from yellow-colored eyes._

" _Ezra, get out of here!" Kanan screamed, charging towards Vader, and Ahsoka tried to stop him, but she could do nothing except watch in terror as her Master leaned back and caught her friend's overextended hands, crushing them brutally with his fingers, lightsaber falling to the ground. And then, in a blurred motion, he sliced Kanan in half from the waist, her friend's presence in the Force vanishing in the blink of an eye, upper half of his body tumbling towards Ezra while his lower half fell next to Maul's corpse, blood and intestines spilling out in buckets of depravity._

 _Ahsoka ignored the horror that had risen in her mind and leaped at her Master in an attempt to give Ezra enough time to flee, but she was smacked aside effortlessly by Darth Vader with the Force, sent smashing into a pillar, pain sweeping through her mind. After a moment, remembering that her friend needed her, she unsteadily climbed to her feet and watched through dazed eyes as Ezra unleashed a roar of rage, tears spilling down his cheeks, and swung wildly at Vader, charging at him. "I'll kill you!"_

 _But before Ahsoka could even take another breath, Ezra froze and agony blossomed across his boyish features. Slowly, her friend rose into the air, grasping at his throat, and Ahsoka turned towards her Master in horror, who hadn't even moved a limb or finger, just simply staring at Ezra's floating, choking form. Ahsoka cried out and rushed at him, but froze when her Master turned to stare directly at her, "Obey me or he dies, Apprentice."_

 _She immediately froze, horrified when Ezra's pain-filled eyes turned to look at her in betrayal, "Apprentice?" He choked out, rage covering the pain in his eyes. "You're his Apprentice? Traitor!" He struggled in Vader's grip, but she was relieved to see that he was no longer being choked, just floating in the air, unable to escape; instead, her Master simply stared at her, not saying a word as his respirator echoed ominously._

" _No, I…" she trailed off, not knowing how she could possibly explain the full situation to Ezra without seeming like a traitor, and plus, she knew that her words would fall on deaf ears. She didn't take a step forward but instead pointed her lightsabers at Vader in what she hoped was a threatening manner. "Let him go! He's just a child!"_

" _I am well accustomed to killing children, Apprentice. I foresaw your coming to this place years ago, and I knew that we needn't be adversaries," her Master countered, booming baritone filling her ears like an alarm. "The Emperor and I will show you mercy if you tell me where the remaining Jedi can be found, specifically Kenobi."_

" _There are no more Jedi!" She cried out, not able to understand how her Master held such a fierce loathing for Obi-Wan. What had happened between them, between the entire Jedi Order? She didn't know, though, because she had left the Order, a decision she now regretted terribly. "You and the Inquisitors have- "_

" _Perhaps this child, then, will confess what you refuse to," Ezra began choking once more, eyes bulging from his sockets, and Ahsoka screamed._

" _No, stop this! The man who was my Master could never be so wicked or cruel or vile as you; I know that man is still in there!" She dared to step closer, trying to find the Master-Padawan bond between their minds that she had almost cruelly severed all of those years ago when she left the Order, but it wasn't there; instead, only an impenetrable wall of unholy darkness blocked her mind from his, surrounding him in a blanket, causing a sob to form in the back of her throat, regret an overwhelming poison in her heart. "Come with me, and you can right all of your deeds, Master. Come with me, please, Anakin,"_

 _She wasn't certain what she had said wrong, but Vader's overwhelming rage flooded through the area, drowning her under its intensity. "That name no longer has any meaning to me," Vader pointed a finger at her. "In spite of your actions this day, I still have no quarrel with you. Leave."_

" _Wait a minute," Ezra coughed out, staring at Vader in horror and fascination. "You're Anakin Skywalker? What? How could- "_

 _Before Ahsoka could even react, Vader suddenly stabbed his lightsaber through Ezra's chest in a blurred motion of red._

" _No!" She screamed, dashing forward, hot bitter tears obscuring her vision, but she didn't care. Vader simply raised his hand and Ahsoka froze, and even with all of her extensive training under the very man who was freezing her, she couldn't move. "Ezra, I'm sorry!" She cried out, tears spilling down her cheeks. "I'm sorry!"_

" _This child does not deserve your sorrow, Apprentice, his mind was clouded with hatred for you. He has much anger in him and I had foreseen a future where he served the Emperor as one of his Hands or Inquisitors. If I had not ended his pathetic existence, he could have also grown to be just as those who had turned their backs on you, become one of the arrogant and idiotic Jedi." Vader turned around, lightsaber powered off, and marched towards the entrance of the Sith Temple. "Follow, you die."_

 _When her Master vanished into the shadows of the Temple, she was able to move and she rushed towards Ezra's fallen body, kneeling next to it. "Please, open your eyes, Ezra, please! I'm sorry," she choked out when the boy's spirit finally joined the Force. "I failed you - and Kanan, too. You both trusted me, but I was too much of a coward to tell the truth," she continued to sob, the emotions erupting in her heart, the passage of time no longer mattering._

Ahsoka closed her eyes, feeling the familiar heartbreak at the memory of what her Master, her best friend had become, and she knew that it was all her fault. She should have stayed and maybe if she had, she could have prevented everything - Palpatine's manipulations. She had always known that Anakin had been extremely close with the Chancellor, more so than any other save for, perhaps, Padme. Not even Obi-Wan had such an ease with Anakin as the Chancellor, who seemed to be the perfect father figure for Anakin, but she had never imagined the wicked and foul depths of the Chancellor's true intentions.

She could see it clearly now, though, with untainted eyes. When she had first realized the truth behind Chancellor Palpatine's identity, she had been brimming with disbelief and had scoffed at such a notion; she had liked the Chancellor and had trusted him to be a calming influence on Anakin, along with Obi-Wan, after she left the Order, but when she had seen the news across every holovid in the galaxy, she had been struck between absolute horror and awe at the amount of time and patience and effort that the man - the hidden Sith Lord! - must have used to manipulate the entire Republic and the Jedi Order until he rose all the way to the position of Chancellor.

But after she had learned that her Master hadn't actually perished during Order 66 and the Jedi Purges, and had instead transformed into Darth Vader, she had seen the full scope of the Chancellor's designs. For all of the time that he had spent manipulating the Republic and Jedi Order, he had been equally, if not more devoted to manipulating Anakin. She had heard the stories of Anakin when he was a mere boy, a lonely and prodigious Padawan, and how the Chancellor had taken him under his wing, in a sense. Then, in time, her Master had befriended the most powerful politician in the entire galaxy.

Now, though, she realized that Palpatine had had his darkness-drenched claws in Anakin since he was nine-years-old, grooming him to become his Apprentice, his heir apparent, conditioning his disillusionment with the Jedi Order, and most importantly, he had worked to gain her Master's trust, an almost impossible thing to acquire, until Anakin trusted nobody more than him.

Ahsoka's blood boiled at the thought and dark rage gnawed at her broken heart. She should have been there! Perhaps if she had, Anakin would have trusted her and the Empire would have never even been formed. She wasn't so naive to believe that just anybody could have aided the Chancellor in Order 66 and the Jedi Purges and the formation of the Empire. Only someone of immense power and strength and skill could have snuffed out the Jedi Order, and Ahsoka had never met someone who was more powerful and strong and skilled than her Master.

"I can sense you," she called out after several moments, succeeding in releasing her fury into the Force. "Whoever you are, show yourself. I am in no mood for games,"

" _Ahsoka, my dear,"_ the voice of Obi-Wan echoed and Ahsoka stood to her feet, wondering if she had finally become insane. Obi-Wan had died years ago! He couldn't be here! _"You must live on and continue the ways of the Jedi."_

"Obi-Wan?" She hesitantly asked. "How is this possible?"

" _It is me, Ahsoka,"_ the tone was unmistakably Obi-Wan's and she felt faint, disbelief coursing through her form. Slowly, the air shimmered before her and an ethereal being appeared with the face of Obi-Wan, an older face lined with wrinkles of grief and sorrow, but a face that she recognized, nonetheless. _"I died, but in doing so, I have achieved immortality, the very thing that the Sith have been searching for, for eons past. I have transcended a normal Jedi's existence."_

She stood to her feet, holding out a hand towards him, afraid that he might disappear, "It's truly you?"

" _Yes, my dear, it relieves me to see you."_ Obi-Wan smiled and tears fell down Ahsoka's cheeks. _"I lived for years not knowing what happened to you after you left the Order."_

Her smile faded swiftly and self-loathing and sorrow replaced it. "I shouldn't have left," she whispered, choking out the words. "Everything that happened after I left, fleeing from Anakin, is my fault."

Obi-Wan stepped closer and his presence helped to dampen the immense grief in her heart. _"No, no, Ahsoka, it is no one but the Emperor's - and mine, too."_

"What happened?" She looked at him desperately, tears shining in her eyes. "What happened? Please, tell me, I need to know. How could Anakin become that… how could he become that monster?"

" _I failed him,"_ the words were barely audible, but Obi-Wan had never looked so ancient, so defeated and broken. _"Honestly, Ahsoka, I don't even know the true depths of his fall to the Dark Side. I spent two decades trying to decipher it and got nowhere. All I know is that when I had been sent to kill General Grievous, that was when Palpatine finally approached Anakin and inveigled him, transforming my Padawan into… Darth Vader. I wasn't there for him and based on several things that he… said to me, nobody was."_

" _Right you are, Obi-Wan,"_ Ahsoka sprang back when Master Yoda suddenly materialized, looking as translucent as Obi-Wan did. _"Fall to the Dark Side, Anakin Skywalker did when he had hit his lowest point; the Jedi help him, we did not."_

"Master Yoda?" She asked in astonishment, "You can do this, too?"

" _Ahsoka Tano, appear I can after my death,"_ the Grandmaster of the Jedi stared at her. _"Train them as Jedi, you must,"_

She looked at Obi-Wan, "Train whom? I still want to know what happened to Anakin!"

" _An existence as a Jedi, Anakin Skywalker was never to live - nor a Sith's. An unfit Jedi he was. A long time before I finally saw, but he was to sit on the Throne of Balance, reigning over the Mortis gods his destiny was."_ Master Yoda nodded his head, looking solemn. _"The Prophecy, deciphered wrong it was."_

"The Chosen One Prophecy?" She asked, "Anakin was the Chosen One - Obi-Wan and I saw it on Mortis!"

" _Yes, and report the events on Mortis to the Council, Obi-Wan rightfully did."_ Master Yoda said and Ahsoka looked at Obi-Wan in shock, shocked that he had reported the events to the Council, especially since Anakin had never shared it with her.

Obi-Wan looked uncomfortable, _"I reported the Father's words on Mortis - and all of the events, how Anakin overpowered both the incarnations of Light and Dark for the Force when our lives were held hostage, and how he killed the Son after the Father sacrificed himself - all without Anakin's knowledge to the Council."_

Anger filled her, "For some reason, that doesn't surprise me!" She growled out, crossing her arms over her chest, wishing that Obi-Wan and Master Yoda would now vanish from her sight, all of the frustrations that she felt with the Jedi Order bubbling inside her. "The Jedi Council, so high and mighty that no one knows better than they! But fools they all were - even you, Master Yoda. Palpatine was in the heart of Coruscant, near the Jedi Temple, and you failed to sense him, all of you." Never-healed-from-wounds surfaced and bitter tears welled in her eyes. "You all threw me into the Rancor Pit! You all never even tried to defend my innocence, ready to sentence me to death - something that the Chancellor, the hidden Sith Lord, disagreed with! Anakin had, though; he never gave up on me in spite of everyone telling him to do so, even when Padme herself thought it to be hopeless. He discovered the truth about how Barriss framed me for the attack and deaths, and freed me." She was breathing heavily and dared them to contradict her words.

Master Yoda sighed wearily whilst Obi-Wan's eyes shut, _"Our hands were tied, my dear- "_

"Maybe so, and I do understand that the evidence against me seemed insurmountable, but you all thought me guilty without a second thought, refusing to even look for the truth like Anakin did. You had all known me for years, but were so cruel and cold that you were more than willing to do nothing while I would likely be executed. Then, when Anakin, by himself, found all of the evidence and I was released, none of you apologized - not even you, Obi-Wan!"

" _Acknowledge we do that mistakes were made,"_ Master Yoda said softly. _"Corruption in the Jedi Order, stewed it did. See that we do now. Stepped far away from the true meaning of being a Jedi, all of us did."_

"But you didn't see it then! That's the entire point!" She cried out, "Because of your failures, Palpatine corrupted Anakin, my Master and best friend, the greatest of the Jedi during the Clone Wars and the Chosen One, he who saved billions of lives across the galaxy, and sentenced everyone to life under Sith rule!"

" _Yes, we did, Ahsoka, it is more apparent to us now after our deaths by the hands of Darth Vader. We all failed drastically in our duties."_ Obi-Wan looked sad and Ahsoka felt her throat close with emotion, unwilling to envision Anakin murdering his own Master, but the truth was right in front of her; she couldn't look away. _"But we now have the chance to redeem us all - our failures and all of the Jedi that led to this point. You are the last of any who had been a part of our Order."_

" _Grown strong you have in the Force,"_ Master Yoda nodded his head, ancient eyes filled with a wave of peace in spite of everything that he had experienced; it was something that Ahsoka was envious of. _"Rival any of the Jedi Council during the Clone Wars you do. Pass for Master Shaak Ti's sister you could even. Train them you must if the galaxy is to ever feel the Light again - sentenced it to eternal darkness we want not."_

Ahsoka felt pride that her obvious strides in growing strong in the Force were apparent, but the words of Master Yoda gave her a cause to pause. Whom did they want her to train? Was it the presence that she had sensed near Vader when Master Yoda had been killed? And matter of fact, was she even qualified to train someone? She hadn't even become a Jedi Knight, just stuck as a mere Padawan when she had left the Order, abandoning Anakin when he had, from everything that she had learned, needed her most.

"Who is it whom you want me to train?" She asked softly after several moments. "I thought that I was the last."

" _You are, indeed, the last trained Jedi, my dear,"_ Obi-Wan smiled kindly at her. _"We speak of two others, though, who can redeem the galaxy and end the Sith's reign."_

"They could defeat the Emperor - and Vader, too?" She asked in astonishment, not believing it. For all of the power that Ahsoka herself had gained since her exile, her Master had gained much, much more, reminding her of how strong Anakin had been on Mortis. And Palpatine? She only knew one being could defeat him and that was Vader, but because Palpatine had been the father-figure whom Anakin had always yearned for, she didn't know if Vader would ever want to rise up against the Emperor.

Obi-Wan glanced at Yoda significantly before he replied, _"The two Force-sensitives whom we allude to are twins, actually, the hidden children of… the son and daughter of Anakin and Padme."_

The words floated in the stale air of her small hut. Ahsoka staggered back, bracing herself against the wall. "Skyguy had… he had children? With Padme?"

" _Luke and Leia, separated at birth lest they fall into their father's grasp - and the Emperor's, too."_ Obi-Wan somehow sat down in one of her chairs, _"Luke was raised on Tatooine by Anakin's step-brother and I lived on that world for twenty years, watching over him, monitoring him and keeping his Force presence as dampened as I possibly could. The planet aged me greatly, and it was lonely in the blistering heat. I understand now why Anakin detested the planet."_

"And Leia?" She asked quietly, already knowing that Padme had died after immediately following the fall of the Republic; her funeral progress had been on every holovid in the galaxy that day. "Where was she?"

Master Yoda spoke, _"Take her as a newborn to Bail Organa and his wife I did. Know the truth she does not. Think she is Leia Organa does she, not Leia Skywalker."_

Ahsoka closed her eyes painfully, grasping the… the cruelty of what Obi-Wan and Master Yoda had designed. "They were to be your weapons, weren't they?" She glared heatedly at both of them, "The children of Anakin Skywalker would be stronger than any Jedi for they carry his blood, his power-brimmed blood! You were going to raise them up to despise their own father without them ever knowing! And they don't even know of the truth behind their heritage, their familial relation, do they? You two disgust me. I am thankful that Padme is now one with the Force - she hasn't had to watch as you two transformed her children into weapons just as Palpatine did to Anakin!" She had never seen Obi-Wan or Master Yoda look so chastised but she didn't care. "How could you?"

" _Because we had seen what Anakin had become, my dear,"_ Obi-Wan's voice was far away, lost in memories that she knew nothing of. _"It was I who discovered of Anakin's marriage…"_ he looked at her consideringly, but Ahsoka simply stared back and then he chuckled quietly after a moment. _"And you knew about the marriage - that doesn't surprise me. Anyway, it was I who confronted Padme after I returned from my mission to kill General Grievous, and when I reached out with the Force to glimpse her thoughts about Anakin, I was astounded to feel the Force flowing through her womb in powerful waves. It was then when I realized that, somehow, Anakin was the father of her child, and I would learn later on that she was carrying twins. I revealed all of the… all of the evil that Anakin had unleashed to her: him tearing through the Jedi Temple, slaughtering everyone - all of the Masters, Knights, Padawans, and… and the Younglings."_ Ahsoka put a hand to her mouth to keep the sob from escaping, unable to picture it, the horror almost too much for her. _"Padme flew to Anakin, and I snuck on to her ship, hiding because…"_

Ahsoka bitterly finished the sentence, a brief sob escaping her lips. "Because you were sent to kill him, right?"

" _We didn't know what else to do, Ahsoka,"_ Obi-Wan looked at her beseechingly. _"Both Master Yoda and I had watched the recordings of Anakin slaughtering the Jedi, the Younglings. The boy whom I had raised, trained into the finest warrior the Jedi had ever seen was gone, consumed by Darth Vader. Master Yoda went to kill Palpatine while I dealt with Anakin- "_

" _And failed I did,"_ Master Yoda bowed his head. _"Underestimated Darth Sidious I did - and the will of the Force."_

"Wait, are you saying that the Force… wanted the Sith to rule?"

" _Yes, we know much more now that we have passed into the netherworld of the living Force. The Force wants balance, hence the Chosen One."_ Obi-Wan's ethereal eyes shone with hidden knowledge. _"He was born to bring balance between the Light and the Dark - both Sides of the Force. The Jedi had always thought that the Light Side was the Force itself, but we were wrong. The Dark Side is as much a part of the Force as the Light."_

"So by slaughtering off the Jedi, Anakin was fulfilling his destiny," she finished softly in a whisper, unable to imagine what her Master had experienced during those final days of the Republic after Count Dooku's death. "You're right: the Prophecy was deciphered wrong, then. What happened with Padme? And Anakin? He's still alive, so you didn't succeed. And he's in that damned suit! What happened?"

Obi-Wan seemed to age lifetimes before her, _"When Padme arrived at the fiery planet of Mustafar, she questioned Vader and actually seemed to even break through to Anakin, but I miscalculated, Ahsoka. I made the mistake of revealing myself and I physically felt it as something inside Anakin snapped like a too-taut string, all of his sanity fleeing and turning into white-hot anger at the sight of me; he must have thought that Padme and I had allied together to destroy him, two people whom he trusted more than anyone save for Palpatine."_ Ahsoka listened to him in horror, tears spilling down her cheeks as she finally learned the dreadful truth, listening to Obi-Wan as he recalled the fall of the greatest of the Jedi. _"He then fell into the cold, churning depths of the Dark Side, once-brilliant-blue eyes blazing yellow with cracks of hatred. He began to pace like a caged Krayt Dragon, shouting how Padme had betrayed him, and before my eyes, he choked her, attempting to kill her. I was too stunned to move, let alone react, but Vader had left her barely alive, probably because of his children in her womb. Then, he and I fought."_

"And it ended in a stalemate?" She asked almost hopefully when he paused.

Instead of answering her question, Obi-Wan seemed stuck in the past, voice echoing all of the horrors of that day. _"We battled each other viciously and brutally, wanting to both spill blood: I wanted to purge Darth Vader, the man who had stolen Anakin's face, from existence and get my Padawan back, my best friend, and he wanted me to suffer for turning Padme against him. It was ruthless as we sought to annihilate one another, and Vader controlled the entire fight until the end. He was stronger than I'd ever be, far stronger, but he was unhinged, insanity seeped into every corner of his soul, ubiquitous with the overwhelming darkness. He was careless, arrogant as he relentlessly came after me, and it took everything that I had, everything that I had ever learned, to defend myself. It was maniacal, homicidal rage against my willpower to remain efficient in fighting him. I was tiring, but Vader seemed to be growing even stronger and faster as the fight continued- "_

"As Anakin always did," she finished.

" _It was Vader's pride and arrogance that led to my… that led to my victory. When I saw my chance, I took it, and take with me several limbs I did. All that was left of Vader was his robotic hand as he fell to the shores of the lava rivers of Mustafar."_ Something in Obi-Wan's voice broke and a tormented and broken expression crossed his face. _"His legless stumps caught on fire and I was unable to do anything but watch as my best friend was consumed by fire, scorching through his body, the poisonous gases burning away his lungs, the lava searing away his vocal cords, eyes, and ears."_ Ahsoka was unable to keep it contained and she unleashed the wails, the echoes of her sobs everywhere. She could have saved Anakin from that if she hadn't left!

" _Blame yourself, you mustn't, Ahsoka Tano."_ Master Yoda said mournfully, _"A hand all of us had in Skywalker's fall."_

"Why… why didn't you just… why didn't you just kill him?" She choked out, tears blurring her vision, barely able to see the spirit of Obi-Wan. "He was there, burning alive, and you could have shown mercy, ended his suffering, saved the galaxy from Darth Vader! WHY?"

" _I couldn't kill him because no matter how much I knew that I should, I just couldn't end my best friend's life."_ Obi-Wan's eyes closed. _"I left him there, taking his lightsaber, letting the Force decide Vader's fate, and it's a decision that has haunted me ever since, Ahsoka."_

"I don't believe this," she muttered, wiping away her tears as she turned around, trying to calm her sorrowful emotions. "Why? I don't understand! What did Palpatine do to transform the best man who I've ever met into the most vicious killer in the history of the galaxy?"

" _What encouraged young Skywalker's fall, we know not, Ahsoka Tano."_ Master Yoda said quietly. _"Only Vader and Darth Sidious know."_

" _But this is why you must train Luke and Leia,"_ Obi-Wan cut in. _"Master Yoda was killed by Vader in Cloud City on Bespin trying to rescue Luke."_

Ahsoka's eyes ignited, "You sent Luke after his father?"

" _We both tried to dissuade him, but he was a Skywalker if there ever was one."_ Obi-Wan sighed, _"He had sensed his friends in distress and went to rescue them from Vader himself."_

"Like father like son," she closed her eyes. "And he learned the truth, didn't he? Vader told him, yes?"

" _Young Skywalker knows he is a Sith's spawn, yes,"_ Master Yoda tried to continue but she interrupted him with fury.

"How dare you?" She roared, blinded by the words of the Grandmaster of the Jedi. No wonder their sect was all extinct save for her! Just when she had thought that Master Yoda had finally begun to realize the truth about the Force, he said one of the dumbest things that she had ever heard! "Don't you ever say something so outrageous and asinine as that again! Luke and Leia were created out of the love that Anakin and Padme felt for one another. Anakin hadn't become Vader when they were conceived, you foolish cretin! Leave me now before I do something that I'll truly regret."

" _Very well,"_ Obi-Wan said, _"but train them, please. You're the last of the Jedi and the only hope of the twins bringing the galaxy back into the Light. The Emperor will be easy to defeat, but the true foe is Vader, it always has been."_

XxXxXxXxXxX

The metal bent and groaned under his hand, the robotic machinery whirring with precision as he stared into the open space, into the myriad of star systems. He couldn't feel anything with the hand, not even the metal being crushed from his grip, and he didn't want to feel anything, nor did he want to let go of the mangled slab.

Had everything been a lie?

Ben and Yoda had purposefully and intentionally lied to him, concealing their precious knowledge of what had truly happened from him when he had had the right to know. Maybe he hadn't been ready to know such burdensome knowledge, but that wasn't their decision to make!

His father, Anakin Skywalker was Darth Vader.

Luke's eyes shut at the torrential whirlwind of emotions the discovery and knowledge bombarded him with. He didn't know what to believe anymore. Was anything about Anakin Skywalker even real? Were his exploits a myth or reality? The Hero With No Fear had been his inspiration, the one title that Luke had tried to live up to, but he had never been able to.

And apparently, neither could his father. Yoda had said, if he could even believe that lying Jedi, that fear led to the Dark Side. Anakin Skywalker was afraid, though, and it ultimately led him to become Darth Vader. But Luke didn't know if he was correct even though his suspicions felt right. How could he know?

His flesh and bone hand gripped Anakin Skywalker's supposed lightsaber tightly. When he had fallen through the reactor on Cloud City, trying to escape away from his… father, he had landed in a large pipe. To his absolute shock and relief, the lightsaber had been inside - and his sliced-off hand, too. The nausea had threatened to overwhelm him, but he had plucked the lightsaber out of the dead and lifeless and cold fingers of his hand.

Luke was thankful for the fact that the Force must have wanted him to have the lightsaber still, so he ignited the blade, the steady blue color soothing to his eyes, but it also brought horror, too. Was this lightsaber even his father's? He had seen Darth Vader wielding a different one, so how could this one in his hand be Anakin Skywalker's?

"Why, Ben, why? I don't understand why you would torture me this way," he whispered, feeling the emotions swell inside, the sorrow and anger. "Nothing makes sense anymore. I don't know what to believe."

" _You weren't ready, Luke."_

His eyes snapped open and he whirled around, staring into Ben's face. "You know nothing about me! You had no right to lie to me blatantly as you did - and Yoda, too!"

" _What I told you was the truth but from a certain point of view."_ Ben looked incredibly tired but his words only increased Luke's ire.

"That's how you justify it?" He raised the lightsaber and pointed it at Ben's ghost threateningly, anger a steady presence in his mind. "You know, I just now realized something. Yoda told me about the Sith, and their sect, how they deal and operate, and I must say that you and he acted just like them! You traitorous snakes! I can't believe anything that you two ever told me. How do I know what's a lie, and what's not?"

" _Luke, we didn't have a choi- "_

He cut him off, waving the lightsaber through the air in a dramatic slice of blue energy and light, his robotic hand in a tight fist. "Shut up, Ben, just shut up. I don't want to hear your meek excuses or your self-serving words. But you know whose words I am interested in actually hearing?" Luke swallowed and finally acknowledged what he had known all along since that encounter. "Vader hadn't lied at all during our confrontation. Everything that he had told me was the truth - unlike you and Yoda. You stole me from him, didn't you? The day of my birth, you smuggled me away to Tatooine."

Ben's eyes closed, _"With those words, you make it sound evil. It wasn't an act of evil but of protection and mercy."_

"And my mother?" He dared ask, finally yearning to know. "Who was she and how did you convince her to abandon me, giving me to you? A Force suggestion?"

" _Your mother was Padme Amidala, Senator of Naboo and it's former Queen. She died during the childbirth. Master Yoda and I determined the best course of action and decided to split you and your- "_ Ben suddenly stopped talking, and Luke leaned forward, a seed planted in his mind that wouldn't be silent.

"Split me and who up? Do I… what? I have a twin, don't I?" The Force sang in delight and Luke shuddered, falling to his knees. "Have you taken everything from me?" He screamed, everything that he had felt during the past days finally exploding. "I never want to see you again, leave me."

" _Luke, we didn't have a choice. Please, you must- "_

Power coursed through his body abruptly and a strength that he had never imagined filled his veins. He glared up at Ben, his robotic hand held towards him in a movement that he didn't understand. "Leave me ALONE!" A vortex of energy exploded out of him, flowing through his robotic hand towards Ben and the image of his… tormentor flickered and vanished with a dread-filled and horrified expression.

"What's wrong?" Leia rushed into the room, eyes red-rimmed. "What is it? Are you hurt? Whom were you talking to?" She kneeled down next to him, placing a hand on his tense shoulder, and Luke felt the power fade away just as suddenly as it had appeared.

He swallowed, "Everything that I thought I knew is a lie, an egregious one. I don't know anymore."

"What did that monster do to you?" Leia asked with more tears filling her eyes. "You mustn't believe what Vader says, Luke. He's a liar and a planet-killing Sith! He must die and we will see to that! He will answer for his crimes against the true Republic."

Luke knew that something was truly wrong with him when he almost laughed aloud. "How do you know he's a monster, though? Who told you?"

"I've always known," she sounded shocked and hurt. "My father always warned me, ordering that if Vader ever came to Alderaan, I was to leave the planet immediately and most-secretly."

"Why? I don't imagine that he would murder a Princess."

"How would I know, but I was face-to-face with the demon, and he was worse than I could have ever imagined. He destroyed my home world - and my parents and race! He froze- " a terrible sob escaped her lips and Luke pulled her into his chest. "Vader fro- froze Han in… in the carbonite! Then he murdered Lando! He isn't anything but a monster!"

Luke didn't reply and just held her in silence, struck by all of the paradoxical contradictions that he knew about his father. A devout Jedi, from what he knew, who then broke away from their Order to become a Sith Lord, and a man who fought for the Republic, but then forged it into the Empire. Who was his father, truly? Was he the charismatic and mighty hero who liberated worlds during the Clone Wars, or the tyrannical monster who had slaughtered the Jedi and enslaved planets?

Who was Anakin Skywalker, and who was Darth Vader? What had happened?

He suddenly thought back to a conversation that he had had with… Han over a year ago:

" _So, I've been wondering ever since I met you about something,"_ his friend had smiled charmingly, but Luke had seen the trepidation in the eyes.

He had frowned in confusion, bemused that his smuggler friend could be afraid of something. _"Well, what is it? Why have you waited this long?"_

" _Honestly, I was afraid to ask, but don't tell anyone. It will ruin my reputation,"_ Han's smile had lost its charm and faded from his face, replaced by wonder and something vulnerable. _"Skywalker, Skywalker, Skywalker. I've heard that name more than any other in my life, I'm pretty certain. Who's your father, kid? A relation to Anakin, perhaps?"_

That was when Luke had realized that Han must have heard of his father, Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi Knight! He had said as much!

Leaning forward, he had happily disclosed the information. _"Anakin Skywalker was my father Han, why? What do you know about him? You heard about him?"_

Han had inhaled slowly, a small smile splitting his face. _"Kid, of course, I heard about him, the whole damn galaxy knew about your father. The Jedi Knight who was so powerful, he turned the tide of battle just by being there. The savior who could have retreated when it looked impossible, but defied such odds and saved millions of lives. The Hero With No Fear who rarely, if ever, lost and defeated the Separatists. I know a lot about your father, Luke,"_

" _Tell me, please!"_ Luke had pleaded desperately, uncaring if he looked weak. He had needed to know! _"I never knew him. He… he died before I was born."_

" _Well, first of all, I had never known that the Jedi were allowed to participate in the carnal enjoyments of life."_ Han had then taken a swig from his drink. _"I was born on Corellia and grew up there. It was a drowsy planet, but when Anakin Skywalker's exploits were regaled, it wasn't so drowsy. Your father, kid, was everything that we all wanted to be: a Jedi Knight, a magnificent and handsome hero, and the best pilot the galaxy had ever seen. You know, now that I'm looking at you and thinking about it, you bear quite a resemblance to your old man."_

" _Really?"_

" _Yeah, you look like him, but you're much shorter than he was. He was huge, towering over everyone else, his presence felt by all."_

" _What else?"_

" _I saw him once,"_ Han's eyes had become hazy, reliving something that Luke had wished that he had experienced. _"I don't even remember why he had come to Corellia anymore, some minor squabble with the Separatists, I think. His eyes were unlike any that I've ever seen - actually, you don't have his eyes, kid, you probably got your mother's, although yours have that… shine to them. They were divine, godlike, and I knew that nobody could defeat Anakin Skywalker after seeing those eyes."_ His friend had closed his eyes, _"I was wrong, though, terribly wrong. Vader rose out of the shadow of the Empire's formation, slaughtering all of the Jedi. They say that… they say that your father was the last Jedi standing, fighting Vader with power pulsing throughout Coruscant as he tried to protect the children. They say that he was the one who put Vader into that suit and helmet, but that's all they say. Not even The Hero With No Fear could defeat Darth Vader."_

Luke had felt his eyes well with tears, felt them as they slid down his cheeks. _"I wish that I knew him, he sounds… amazing."_

" _They even made a song about him, you know? It was after he died and it's been stuck with me ever since:_

 _The imperial force was being defied,  
_ _While facing the strongest of the mighty Jedi.  
_ _He had sworn to the Republic never to quell,  
_ _And his strikes echoed like ringing bells.  
_ _Staring into the coming Darkness, he refused to quit,  
_ _And when Vader bombarded him, he didn't submit._

 _Into the Jedi Temple, the Clone Troopers marched,  
_ _And Skywalker protected the dwelling, stopping their charge.  
_ _Led by Darth Vader, the monstrous bringer of woe,  
_ _The Dark Lord had met, in Skywalker, his greatest foe.  
_ _In time, when he knew that there wouldn't be victory,  
_ _He ordered all of the children in the Temple to flee._

 _Troopers fired at them, filling young bodies with many a hole,  
_ _And in return, Skywalker's vengeance was uncontrolled.  
_ _The Hero With No Fear heroically battled the dark beast,  
_ _And to put the devil in his suit, his power was unleashed.  
_ _Having been summoned from the depths of hell in silence,  
_ _Vader then cast his own power with explosive violence._

 _He who walked the sky saw one last shadow as he fell,  
_ _The Dark Lord condemning him to where monsters dwell.  
_ _The Force cried out in despair as its greatest child died,  
_ _And beings across the galaxy were dreadfully surprised.  
_ _Crowds then gathered to mourn his loss with faces pale,  
_ _While Vader marched out of the Temple he made frail.  
_

 _Hail to the hero who saved lives, who was strong and true,  
_ _Who fought the blood-soaked fight, and always saw it through,  
_ _Who publicly swore that he would never be a slave,  
_ _But gave his life in the hopes of lives being saved.  
_ _Skywalker, his name eternal, was the highest of the high,  
_ _Declared the greatest of the Republic-defending Jedi."_

Tears had spilled down his cheeks and Luke had sniffed, feeling the loss of his father more than he had in a long time. _"That's beautiful, my friend, touching my heart in ways I hadn't imagined."_

" _Your father deserved it, kid. He was amazing, a great man whose life was snuffed out by the Empire - and I've hated them for it ever since."_ Han had taken a long drink from his flask, hands shaking. _"You know what, that's when I stopped believing in the Force. I had seen unimaginable and unexplainable things in my childhood before the Empire and I always knew that it was the Force and those blessed enough to wield it. But since your father died, I stopped believing in it. If it existed, how could it allow its greatest practitioner to fall in battle to the monstrous Dark Lord?"_

Luke closed his eyes, coming out of his memory at the thought of his friend, of the fate that had been given to him: frozen in carbonite by the who-he-didn't-know-to-be man who he had adored as a child. Was everything a cruel joke? Did the Force even understand how wicked it all was? And what about his father? He had always thought that Darth Vader had murdered Anakin Skywalker, as Ben had declared - and Yoda, too. But Anakin Skywalker was actually Darth Vader, so how did that happen?

What could have possibly caused his father to forsake the Jedi and slaughter them, unleashing waves of calamity across the entire galaxy? He needed answers if he was ever going to understand his father, his heritage. _'You are of my blood, making you far stronger than you could possibly know.'_ And what did that mean? Out of everything that he had heard from people, Anakin Skywalker had clearly been the strongest of the Jedi, but Vader had made it sound like something different, something more.

"What are we going to do, Luke?" Leia asked quietly, "What can we do? The Rebel Alliance is in scatters and no one has responded to our distress calls. What if Vader reached all of them? What if we're all that's left?"

He looked down at his lightsaber instead of her, mesmerized by the pristine metal, the power that existed in the object. "We find answers, Leia, and we free Han. That's what we're going to do."

"What answers do we need?"

"We need to know what had happened during the final days of the Republic if we're ever going to defeat the Empire. How did Darth Vader rise to… how did he become the monster? How did the Jedi allow the rise of the Empire? Why didn't they stop its creation?"

Leia sniffed, "Because Vader butchered them all, wiping them out. My father told me everything."

Luke closed his eyes, "But why do I have the feeling that whatever your father told you was wrong? Why do I know that he didn't have the whole picture, and why do I know that the Republic wasn't a paradigm of peace and light? We must decipher the mystery that no one fully knows except for the Emperor and Darth Vader."

"And how are we supposed to do that?"

"I have no idea."

XxXxXxXxXxX

 **Well, that's all for this one, everyone. Thanks to those few who did review the first chapter. I really appreciated it.**

 ****Darth Sidious reveals many things in this chapter. First off, I was never a fan about how people declare that Vader was just extremely weak and old in** _ **Return of the Jedi,**_ **a shadow of his former self; when Anakin Skywalker had been a Jedi, he had never reached the Force powers and skill and abilities that Vader did. I am firmly of the opinion that Sidious only wanted Luke as his Apprentice because Vader had become older and thus, more powerful. Sidious wanted an Apprentice who wouldn't have the age-old resentment and bitterness that Vader held for him, and who better than Vader's own son? Also, it was shown in** _ **Star Wars: Vader #6**_ **comic,** **that Boba Fett was the one who inadvertently revealed to Vader that he had a son, Luke Skywalker. I personally love this version much more because it truly can show glimpses of the relationship of checks and balances between Sidious and Vader. (So, Vader already knew about Luke Skywalker's existence before the Emperor told him in** _ **The Empire Strikes Back**_ **movie.)**

 **Based on everything that we've seen in Legends and Canon in** _ **Star Wars,**_ **I think that it's obvious to point out that the Emperor was deeply afraid of Darth Vader turning on him, thus revealing that Sidious was never confident about a victory for himself if the two battled to the death. He always knew that Vader had the potential and power to overthrow him, so that's why, because he feared his Apprentice, he purposefully designed the suit to cripple Vader, especially in regards to Force lightning.**

 **I will be blunt: I despise** _ **The Force Awakens**_ **and** _ **The Last Jedi**_ **movies with a fiery passion. They are terrible films, nonetheless the worst** _ **Star Wars**_ **films - yes, I think that** _ **Attack of the Clones**_ **and** _ **The Phantom Menace**_ **were better movies. Disney has really put a large damper on my love for any new content for the franchise, but I will say that the only thing that they've truly done right so far - *knock on wood* - is their handling of Darth Vader in the comics and novelizations, and of course, the scene in** _ **Rogue One**_ **. So, bravo, Disney, for that!**

 **In the last comic,** _ **Darth Vader #25**_ **, it is shown to Vader in his walk in the World Between Worlds - where he sees his past, present, and future - that Sidious was heavily influencing the womb of Shmi Skywalker, impregnating her by manipulating the midichlorians. Now personally, I was always of the belief that Darth Plagueis had created Anakin, but I do really like this idea of Sidious being the 'father' of Anakin, so I used it in this story because I like the theme of fathers in** _ **Star Wars:**_ **Palpatine and Anakin, Obi-Wan and Anakin, Sidious and Vader, and Vader and Luke.**

 **And yes, disfigurement shouldn't have any impact on one's Force abilities and potential. Look at Darth Maul! He was eviscerated by Obi-Wan and stayed alive for over a decade just from his hatred. Then, when Mother Talzin restores his mind and gives him good robotic legs, he was more powerful than ever, in my opinion. He was smacking Obi-Wan around in their duels in** _ **The Clone Wars**_ **TV show and handling Asajj Ventress easily. If disfigurement disabled a Force-user, then Maul should have been crippled, but he wasn't. The same is true for Vader, and even though he is far more disfigured and physically broken than Maul ever was, the potential is still there, it always was. (Though, Vader can never truly use Force lightning, most sadly.)**

 **I will be using knowledge and events and characters from both Canon and Legends because most of Legends is pretty awesome. For starters, like I'm using in this story, Darth Sidious was obsessed with finding the knowledge to eternal life - as all Sith are except Vader, apparently. That's another reason why he wanted to get rid of Vader: he was afraid of his Apprentice killing him before he unearthed the key.**

 ****Ahsoka is featured, and yes, she had the same role in** _ **Star Wars: Rebels**_ **, but things ended a bit differently. Honestly, if the band of heroes in that show wasn't protected by the thickest plot armor that I've ever seen except for Batman and the Rebel Alliance in** _ **Star Wars,**_ **Vader would have easily killed all of them. So, I end the show's Season 2 arc on a different note and left Ahsoka the only one alive. Plus, I always wanted to write a Maul-Vader fight, and thus showed you my thoughts about such a battle. (Maul would get effortlessly stomped, come on.)**

 **I truly think that Anakin Skywalker was never meant to live a Jedi or Sith's life - he was supposed to inherit the Father's place on Mortis, reigning over the Son and Daughter, tempering their powers with his own. Also, I've read that George Lucas intended that the Force was only Light and that the Dark was an armageddon-like use, profane and warped, but honestly, that doesn't really make sense, especially because of the Mortis gods. It is shown that both the Son and Daughter are living aspects of the Light and the Dark, and that they both exist and are in balance through the Father's command. I've always thought that the Force was like Yin and Yang; the Light and Dark cannot exist without the other, so I'm using that in this story.**

 ****I know that it seems cheap, but I wanted Luke to continue to have Anakin's lightsaber. There will be a reason, later on, believe me. And I think that Luke's anger is more than justified here. The theme, to me, of the Original Trilogy, is Luke's yearning to be like his father, to be close in spirit with him:** _ **"I am a Jedi like my father before me."**_ **Now, when he learns that his father is actually alive, and on top of that, the most hated and feared being in the entire galaxy, he would feel broken and in despair. Then he would take into account how Obi-Wan had set him on the path to be a Jedi like his father, but Obi-Wan had purposefully and intentionally lied to him, declaring that his father was murdered by Darth Vader. (Who cares if it was the truth from a certain point-of-view? It's a cop-out on Obi-Wan's part and Luke knows it.) I'm not saying that Obi-Wan should have told Luke the truth, not at all. In fact, I think that Obi-Wan did the best that he could in the situation, and said the right things for his agenda to see the Sith rule vanquished by Luke and possibly Leia. But Luke doesn't see it that way. It's a betrayal to him, and as a boy who had always wanted his father in his life and had had Anakin Skywalker put on the highest pedestal in existence because of everyone's words, including Obi-Wan and Yoda, it is a direct strike to the heart by Obi-Wan and Yoda whom both knew the truth about Darth Vader.**

 **I think that it is absolute nonsense that Han Solo never believed in the Force in the Original Trilogy until later on near the end. I mean, he was born in 29 BBY, ten years before Luke and Leia, and far before the Clone Wars had even started. He should have memories of the tales of Jedi and the Force, but for whatever reason, he doesn't. So, I added the scene and the song about Anakin Skywalker, and the childish awe of a hero for a boy who lived on a boring planet. I hope that it all makes sense because that was one of the biggest plot holes in the Original Trilogy besides Vader letting Luke drop off the reactor in** _ **The Empire Strikes Back.**_ **(I know that George Lucas hadn't had the entire stories written and I can't blame him for any mistakes in continuity, but I'll happily fix what I can find.)**

 **Well, I think that's everything. Leave a review and tell me what you thought. I'd really appreciate it.**

 _ **Stay Safe  
**_ **ButtonPusher**


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